Chinese team jets in Malawi for friendly to launch National Stadium

Guangzhou R&F Football Club from China, the Malawi national team opponents in Saturday’s friendly to mark the opening of newly-built Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Thursday arrived in the country through Kamuzu international airport (KIA).

Chinese Football team at KIA in Lilongwe-(c) Abel Ikiloni, Mana

Chinese Football team, Guazhu Football Club

Coach Dragan Stojkovic: We are ready for Malawi game

The Guangdong Province-based club arrived with a 30-member delegation and plays in the Chinese Super League (CSL). They finished on position six in the 2016 season, according to the club’s website.

Coached by 51-year-old Serbian Dragan Stojković, the club has foreign players such as Australian forward Apostolos Giannou, Brazilian midfielders Renatinho and Junior Urso, Israeli Eran Zahayi and Japanese striker Jang Hyun-Soo.

Caoch Stojkovic said apart from the friendly match, their priority is to strengthen the bilateral relationship existing between Malawi and China.

“We are playing technical football whereby we like to dominate play for the entire 90 minutes of the game with our short passing style,” Stojkovic said.

He said they expect to have a good game against Malawi and warned the hosts that tagainst underrating the club.

Initially, Flames were supposed to play the Chinese national football team, the Dragons, however, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) revised the Flames squad after it transpired that they would play a club.

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The idea to change the team was stupidity. You cold have used this chance as a friendly game to assess the player you will use for the forth coming AFCON. You don’t have money for friendlies and you decided to abuse this chance. Erroneous, a pathological hatred (Dausi 2017)